


Bound and (unfortunately not) gagged

by chezamanda



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Bickering, Bound Together, Community: trope_bingo, Gen, Major Character Injury, Mission Fic, Post Avengers (Movie), Team Bonding, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 17:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chezamanda/pseuds/chezamanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was Stark’s fault, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bound and (unfortunately not) gagged

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Trope Bingo](http://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org/) [handcuffed/bound together]. Thanks to the Hive Mind for feedback. As per usual, just borrowing the characters with nothing to show for it in my bank account.

“Before you say anything, remember - this wasn’t my fault,” Tony said.

“If you could keep your mouth shut, we shouldn’t be in this situation, Stark,” Natasha growled at him, moving her arms behind her. 

It was Stark’s fault, of course. She should have known better than to go with him on this assignment, but Fury had insisted that Stark should bring a date that had proper mission training. Pepper had to sit this one out, which, in hindsight, was probably for the best. However, they should have known that Tony wasn't going to keep quiet when they snuck off to find the stolen plans in Hammer's office. This had drawn the attention of his security team and here they were, tied together in the basement of his mansion. There was a knife tucked into the nylon garter belt Natasha had put on before leaving her apartment and wasn’t doing her much good with both of her wrists bound.

“What are you doing back there?” Tony asked.

“I am _trying_ to get my wrist loose so we can get the hell out of here, but please keep talking so they come back.”

“Stop putting the blame on me!”

“It belongs on you!” Natasha snapped. She took a moment to calm herself because screaming at him wasn’t going to make this go any easier (even if it did make her feel a lot better). “Look, just be quiet and do what I tell you to do and we’ll get out of here.”

“Apologize,” Tony said in a clipped tone.

“Excuse me?” 

“I want you to apologize for saying everything is my fault or I’ll keep talking.”

“You’re being ridiculous. I am trying to save both of our lives here and your feelings are hurt because I pointed out that you got us into this mess?” she asked, but he just kept on his mini tirade about how they got into the situation.

Sighing, Natasha conceded to his terms and apologized for blaming him for something that was 100% his fault. On the bright side, it shut him up and gave Natasha time to work on a plan. The restraints were too tight for her to slip; she needed something to cut the ropes. 

“So, master secret agent, how is the planning coming along?” Tony asked after a moment.

Natasha fought the urge to crack her head back against his but didn’t want an even bigger headache to deal with than the one to which she was currently tied. She wasn’t sure how Pepper had put up with him all these years, let alone gotten into a relationship with him. Once they were back, Natasha planned on sending Pepper a muffin basket or maybe a year’s worth of wine. If she could get the garter belt off of her leg, she might be able to maneuver them into a position where she could retrieve the knife.

“I need you to do what I say, okay?” Natasha said, looking over her shoulder in his direction.

“I’m pretty sure that’s how I ended up with you as my ‘date,’” Tony replied. “‘Follow my lead and don’t do anything stupid.’ Newsflash, lady, I did and here we are.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Stark! Just shut up and listen to me,” she exclaimed. “I am going to remove this garter belt and get my knife so I can cut us loose.”

“You would keep a knife in a garter belt,” he said derisively. 

Ignoring Stark, Natasha pressed her thighs together, moving just enough so that the material would edge down to her knee. It was slow going because the garter was designed specifically, _not_ to come off, but she could feel it start to loosen ever so slightly around her thigh. She kept one eye trained on the door in case one of their kidnappers returned.

“Does this happen to you a lot?” Stark asked. 

“Getting kidnapped? More than the average person, I suppose,” she replied with a small shrug. “Comes with the territory.”

“I’m sure you’ve already read my file and know about my history with it,” he said.

She nodded. “You certainly had enough attempted kidnappings in your childhood before the little trip to Afghanistan.”

“Little trip,” Tony said with a quiet chuckle. “You know you’re kinda funny sometimes, Romanoff.”

“Thanks, I try.”

Natasha felt the garter belt slip closer to her knee when someone opened the door. Keeping her knees together, she paused and sized up the man who had walked into the room. Judging by the slightly terrified look in his otherwise neutral expression, Natasha figured he was one of Hammer’s lackeys sent in to check on them. She kept still, watching as he made a circle around the two of them without saying a word (despite Stark’s best efforts to engage him in conversation). He spoke into a walkie-talkie about the “prisoners” and left the room, locking the door behind him. Hammer had already been in to brag about trapping two Avengers and how astoundingly clever he was before disappearing back into the mansion. One thing that both Tony and Natasha could agree on was that they really, really hated that guy.

The garter finally came off with one small twitch of her hips. Natasha exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She explained to Stark what she needed to do in order for her to pick up the knife and cut them loose. Surprisingly, he didn’t make a sarcastic remark and did exactly as she told him - stand and don’t move until she said so. Natasha maneuvered them into a position where her garter belt was between them on the floor and then carefully sat down. She flexed her fingers but couldn’t get a good grip on the material.

“Do you have it?” he asked, shifting behind her.

“Not... yet,” Natasha said. “Move a little bit to your right... good, perfect.”

Tony kept still as Natasha positioned the knife between their hands with the blade against the outermost piece of rope. So long as the lackey or anyone else didn’t come by to check up on them, Natasha would be able to cut them loose in no time at all. She had to move carefully so that the blade wouldn’t accidentally press against his or her skin and told Tony this. He agreed to keep his hands still while she worked.

“So, how would Barton handle this situation?” he asked as she worked the rope against the blade of her knife.

“He wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped in the first place,” she said matter-of-factly.

“C’mon, like he hasn’t messed up before.”

Natasha smiled, remembering a few choice missions where she had to go in after him. “He has, but he usually is the one surveying the scene and I’m the one who goes in as bait,” she explained. “They find it easier to nab the one in the skirt.”

“I gather it doesn’t go well for them.”

“Nope,” Natasha said with a grin. “Though I have had to save his ass on more than one occasion.”

“Do tell.”

“Well, the Loki mind control thing for one.”

“Right,” Tony said. “You know he tried to put the whammy on me too. Didn’t work, so he threw me out of a window.”

Natasha felt the knife make progress through the thick material. “Safe to say that Loki has severe anger management issues.”

They continued to talk as Natasha worked at their bindings and she realized that he wasn’t such a pain in the ass. It seemed as though he talked to keep himself from panicking - his coping mechanism. One loop fell loose, though not loose enough to get the rope off of their wrists but it helped. She had more control over the knife and quickly sliced through two more pieces of rope and felt it fall away.

As soon as Natasha and Tony were both on their feet, they were greeted by the guy who had been in to check on them earlier and three of his friends. Though he didn’t have his suit, Tony was able to handle himself in the fight. Natasha secured all of them together with their belts before they fled the scene and called in for evac. 

“It figures Hammer can’t even hire competent goons to kidnap me,” Tony remarked.

Right on schedule, a quinjet appeared overhead and landed a couple yards away. Natasha made her way towards the opened hatch and heard a thud behind her, quickly followed by a yelp. Tony had fallen behind her, sprawled out face-down on the ground. Sighing, she turned around to help him up.

“Really, Stark? You make it out unharmed and trip in a damn gopher hole?” she griped as she approached.

Natasha’s hand touched something warm and wet on his tuxedo jacket and it dawned on her what had happened. In that same moment, she heard the metallic pings of gunfire against the hull of the ship and could see a few more henchmen running towards them. Hauling Tony up against her, Natasha moved them into the safety of the jet and yelled to the pilot to close the hatch. She located the first aid kit and stripped off the top half of his tuxedo. Color was draining from his face very quickly and his blood stained the metal floor. 

“Sm’bdy shoot me?” Tony asked, trying to raise his head.

“Looks like they winged you,” she said, “but it went through cleanly. I’m going to stop the bleeding, just stay with me.”

She managed to staunch the bleeding and wrap the wound with the supplies she had on hand. Tony slowly blinked up at her and groaned. He was looking a little better, but the doctors would need to look at him once they made it back to the helicarrier. She did her best to keep him still along the ride. His hand came up and patted the back of hers, letting her know that he was still hanging in there.

“Hammer’s paying for that tux,” he grunted and Natasha laughed.

As soon as they touched down, a team of medics took Tony off of her hands. They asked to check her out, but there were only a few minor bruises from the restraints and the scuffle they had gotten into on the way out. She wiped her hands on the damaged suit and disposed of it. Clint walked over to her sporting a cut above his eye from his own mission in Croatia a few days earlier.

“Did you shoot Stark?” he asked.

“Actually, no,” she replied, leaning against him as the adrenalin coursing through her began to subside.

“Damn, I owe Rogers fifty bucks.”


End file.
